Fire retardant company Phos-Chek arrives in Rancho Cucamonga

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Living in Southern California, you might have seen the dramatic sight: A huge red plume of retardant liquid spewing forth from the belly of a diving airplane.

The red liquid is fire retardant and it's colored so pilots can make continuous barrier lines on the ground to prevent an encroaching wildfire from moving forward.

While ICL Performance Products isn't the only company that makes the fire-fighting retardant, it is a major global supplier of the stuff.

Its product, called Phos-Chek long-term fire retardant, is now being made in Rancho Cucamonga.

The company decided to move from its Phos-Chek plant in Ontario to a new plant on the southwest corner of Utica Avenue and Jersey Boulevard.

Rancho Cucamonga officials welcomed the new plant with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday.

"I hate to see empty buildings in this town and Phos-Chek's decision to move here and ICL Performance Products' decision to financially make this transition is a very special thing for Rancho Cucamonga," Mayor Dennis Michael said.

"It brings jobs to our city. It brings people who want to visit and use the product - primarily the United States Forest Service, CalFire, as well as local jurisdictions throughout the United States. It's their only manufacturing plant in the U.S., so their products will be shipped all over the United States. "

At 104,000 square feet, the new plant is a little smaller than ILC's former Ontario plant, which had produced Phos-Chek for 50 years.

Still, the plant is state of the art and will be more efficient, ICL executives said.

"This place is so much more state of the art," ICL business director Eddie Goldberg said.

"We've got double the capacity than in the old plants, so even in the worst California fire seasons, we won't really be stretched for capaciaty."

Terry Zerr, vice president of operations and technology for ICL, said the new facility contains a state-of-the-art dust collection system.

"In terms of a controlled environment, everything's new," Zerr said. "You always have the potential of release or spill but we've eliminated all that with this new design. "